Great review, Gino! Thanks for pointing out some of the issues with the kit, especially what's lacking and what needs to be fixed.

Hopefully AM PE and resin will fill in the issues with this "Grenada" jeep kit.

Question...where else could one take this "Grenada" jeep to? Would it work for 1989 Panama? Would it work for the USMC deployments or Embassy evacuations? Perhaps some AM companies could make some resin figures and gear that will extend the years of this kit past Grenada.

Hi Pete. The M151 was the HMMWV of its day. It was used by all services and all over the world. So yes, it was in all the places you listed. The A2 version was fielded in '72 and was used up intil the early '90s by some units. In most active units, it was replaced in the mid-late '80s by HMMWVs.

Thanks for the great review Gino. I can't wait to get my hands on this kit. The only reservations that I have (from what I can see from your pictures) are the poorly molded M60's and M16A1, and the fact that the figures have the older style M1956 H-harness suspenders (hadn't the newer Y-harness completely phased out the old Nam era gear?). Academy's M60 (such as the one in the old M1025 kit) is much more detailed. Other than that - this kit looks like it can be a fun build. Gino, do you know if any other brand makes M16A1's with 30 round mags?

Nice. I built the old Tamiya version and I really like the addition of new sprues. Hopefully we'll soon see updates appearing from various aftermarket companies, not just for the vehicle but the crew sets as well.

Gino would probably know better, but I would assume that if you're going to use the .50 calibre MG on the M151, you're probably going to want to figure out a way to drop that rear suspension down. These were light vehicles and the .50 would most likely weigh that rear down significantly, especially too when you consider the added gunner on top as well as boxes of ammo rounds, a radio, and other stowage on board.

Gino would probably know better, but I would assume that if you're going to use the .50 calibre MG on the M151, you're probably going to want to figure out a way to drop that rear suspension down. These were light vehicles and the .50 would most likely weigh that rear down significantly, especially too when you consider the added gunner on top as well as boxes of ammo rounds, a radio, and other stowage on board.

I don't know what a number in the center of the bumper would be unless perhaps its part of a VIN/Serial/Registration number. But if that's the case, it should be formatted like: "2N8055" (By the way, that's the registration number of my M151 shown in my avatar).

Doubtful, the 319th was a military intelligence battalion assigned to the 82nd ABN at the time of the invasion. I'm not sure about the old make up of those types of units, but they often consisted of numbered companies as opposed to the traditional lettered companies (i.e. maybe the 174th MI company and not A, B, C like a maneuver battalion). Long range reconnaissance teams came from units like this.

The M1956 gear just didn't indicate one unit or another, it was luck of the draw at the warehouse when a troop was issued field gear. The issuer just grabbed the next item in the bin and in the bag it went. You could do the figures as either Rangers either 1st or 2nd Batt. by putting steel pots on them and doing the uniforms as the OG jungle fatigues (only the 82nd had been issued the new PASGT helmets at the time).